Press release – Emissions from major global meat and dairy companies rival those of Saudi Arabia

The world’s major meat and dairy companies are generating combined greenhouse gas emissions on par with some of the biggest fossil fuel producers, according to new estimates from environmental and food policy experts issued ahead of the COP30 climate talks in Belém, Brazil. More than half of the estimated emissions stem from methane, a powerful but short-lived gas that scientists warn must be sharply reduced in this decade to keep global warming within 1.5°C.

The analysis, Roasting the Planet: Big Meat and Dairy’s Big Emissions, published today by Foodrise, Friends of the Earth U.S., Greenpeace Nordic, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, estimates that 45 major meat and dairy corporations generated more than a billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (in CO₂-equivalents) — more than has been reported for Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest oil producer. [1]

The study found that the largest five emitters of this group — JBS, Marfrig, Tyson, Minerva, and Cargill — together produced an estimated 480 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2eq), surpassing emissions reported for Chevron, Shell, or BP. [2] In addition, the estimated methane emissions of the 45 meat and dairy firms exceeded the reported methane of all EU countries and the UK combined.

Martin Bowman, Senior Policy and Campaigns Manager at Foodrise, said: 

“These profit-hungry Big Meat and Dairy companies are shamelessly driving the climate crisis through their addiction to industrial-scale mass production of meat and dairy. This is despite crystal-clear evidence that to limit climate catastrophe, a shift to healthy, sustainable and plant-rich diets is essential, alongside some much smaller-scale animal farming.

“That’s why we’re sounding the alarm on Big Meat and Dairy’s sky-high emissions, which closely rival Big Oil and exceed those of entire countries. We urgently need to see policymakers step up to take on this powerful industry through both taxation and regulation. This is absolutely crucial for the health of people and planet, and to fund a just transition to healthy food which is sustainably farmed.”

Shefali Sharma, Global Agriculture Policy Expert for Greenpeace Germany, said: 

“As governments head to COP30 in the heart of the Amazon — an ecosystem devastated by global meat giants — scientists are clear that a failure to bring down agricultural emissions will torpedo us well past the Paris 1.5°C red line. Farms that restore nature and communities, not corporate-controlled factories, should be at the center of our food system. It’s not too late for governments to commit to such a transition in their climate plans coming out of this COP.” 

Kari Hamerschlag, Deputy Director of Food and Agriculture at Friends of the Earth, said: 

“We cannot be fooled by shameless greenwashing by Big Meat and Dairy companies. The numbers are stark. Meat and dairy giants are responsible for a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions, especially methane. If governments are serious about meeting climate goals, they can no longer ignore the climate impact of industrial meat and dairy. Binding agricultural emissions targets, full supply-chain reporting, and support for a just transition toward agroecology and more plant-based food systems are essential.”

Ben Lilliston, Director of Climate Strategies at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, said:

“Despite years of pledges to reduce emissions, major meat and dairy companies continue to recklessly drive climate-polluting production systems. It’s time for governments to step up and lead, with aligned regulations and public spending designed to cut emissions and support farmers in a transition toward more sustainable, lower-emitting farming systems.”

Other key findings from the study include:

• JBS leads by far: Brazil-based meat company JBS alone accounted for nearly a quarter (24%) of the total emissions estimates calculated for the 45 companies covered in this report, with more than 240 million tonnes CO2eq.
• Methane dominates emissions: Methane is the source of more than half (51%) of the emissions (CO2eq) from the 45 companies — exceeding the reported methane emissions of all EU countries and UK combined.
• Concentration of GHG emissions: Three-quarters of the estimated emissions stem from just 15 out of the 45 companies, underscoring the outsized role that Big Meat and Dairy giants have. 

With global methane emissions needing to drop by 45% by 2030 according to the UN [3] to stay within the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit, the report’s authors are calling for urgent action from governments to: 

• Introduce mandatory and transparent corporate production figures and emissions reporting
• Set binding targets for absolute reductions in agriculture GHG emissions, including separate methane reduction targets.
• Implement policies that curb overproduction and overconsumption of meat and dairy resulting in reduced herd sizes and protein diversification.
• Support a just transition toward agroecology, food sovereignty and plant-based foods, including by shifting public funds away from large-scale industrial animal agriculture. 

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• You can read the full study, Roasting the Planet: Big Meat and Dairy’s Big Emissions at https://foodrise.org.uk/RoastingThePlanetReport
• For this report, researchers estimated emissions by combining the most recent meat and milk processing data that is publicly available for 45 major meat and dairy companies with emission factors from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s GLEAM 3.0 model. GLEAM attempts to capture greenhouse gases across the livestock supply chain, including methane from enteric fermentation (cattle burps) and manure, carbon dioxide from land use change and energy use, and nitrous oxide from fertilisers for animal feed. The authors note that the resulting figures are likely conservative, since the FAO’s most recent estimates of total anthropogenic livestock emissions using GLEAM 3.0 is at the lower end of existing scientific literature [4].  
  
• The report’s foreword is written by Prof. Paul Behrens, who co-authored a survey of over 200 climate scientists and food and agriculture experts — half of whom have authored IPCC reports — asking what efforts would be needed in animal agriculture to meet the Paris agreement. Averaging their responses, they suggested that global livestock emissions would need to peak this year (2025) and then to be reduced by 61% by 2036, with faster and deeper reductions in higher-income countries. 78% of the experts surveyed said that absolute global livestock numbers need to peak by 2025, and 85% agreed that dietary shifts to less livestock-derived foods are required, particularly in high and middle-income countries.

Footnotes:

[1] The scope of research was 45 major processors of beef (12), pork (15), chicken (15) and milk (15)—see Annex 1 (Methodology) for more info on company selection. 2023 data was used for the number of animals processed for beef, pork and chicken. 2022 data on milk intake was used for dairy companies as 2023 data wasn’t available at the time of analysis. 

The comparisons with reported emissions for countries and fossil fuel companies in this press release and report are indicative only, as these emissions are calculated using different methodologies. Country emission data have been sourced from: Our World in Data, ‘Annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions Including Land Use’, Our World in Data, 2025, https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-ghg-emissions?tab=table 

[2] Fossil fuel company emission data have been sourced from: Carbon Majors, ‘Carbon Majors Dataset – High Granularity’, InfluenceMap, 2025, https://carbonmajors.org/Downloads.

[3] UNEP and Clean Air Coalition, Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions (United Nations Environment Programme, 2021), 11, https://www.unep.org/resources/report/global-methane-assessment-benefits-and-costs-mitigating-methane-emissions